Integrating CONFD with OpenDaylight – What you need to know!

Increasing requirements for programmable networks has prompted several tech leaders to think about solutions that address network programmability which are interoperable with other solutions in the field. One solution organizations are deploying to help build programmable networks is Software Defined Networking (SDN). It provides network operators the flexibility to launch new services and maintain their existing ones without affecting hardware.

As a result of this movement, OpenDaylight (ODL), the largest open source SDN controller, became one of the most used controllers in the field. ODL is a flexible platform that supports multiple different protocols northbound and southbound of the controller. This prompted me to dig deeper into how ODL can interact with ConfD based devices via the NETCONF programmable interface.

As you would expect from a widely used controller, ODL supports the NETCONF protocol northbound and southbound of the controller. A plugin called NETCONF connector can be configured southbound of ODL, which will allow ODL to speak NETCONF southbound.

It was an enjoyable ride to investigate how to integrate ODL with ConfD.

So much so, that I developed an application note, that shares what I learned and the steps needed in getting ODL “up to speed” with its NETCONF capability and speaking to your ConfD device. In the application note, I demonstrate simple get and set RESTCONF RPCs on one of the multiple examples that come with ConfD, the DHCP intro example.